Legacy of the Kiryu's
by kiriesrain
Summary: Basically the title sums up the story. Story of the Kiryu twins, Akane and Azami. The better summaries are inside.
1. Chapter 1

_Ahhh...here I am again at my computer, blaring The Used, with another sudden thought for a fic. Yes, I will finish Himuro, but not right now, probably after this first chapter. _

_Who knows? Wait the music just changed, The Killers, not bad, well back to my thoughts:_

_My first FF2 fic! I've decided to write about the Kiryu's, basically their life before and after the ritual, kinda the same idea as Blossoming Friendship. _

_This chapter is more of a prequel. Kinda boring, but needed. It'll be in third person this time, but the next chapters will be first. Please review this one! I'm tired of having people read but not review, I don't care if you hate it and want to burn it, just do it, please! Thanks to Steeple333 for all of his, I appreciate it. Haha, Chevelle! Sorry, I'm done, onto the story.

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**Chapter 1 -Realization**

Golden rays of light tore through the morning darkness, first lighting the whole of Misono Hill. The red Shinto gate glistened from the morning dew, the trees turning to their vibrant emerald shade. A beautiful morning, no one could deny. The light passed over Minakami Village, signaling for many of the houses doors to open and for the day to start. Lively children ran out from their mother's arms, not wanting to waste the morning lazing about inside. This sunny day was the first in many long days of torrential rain, and gloomy grey colors. Many of the older villagers had thought that the everlasting rain was an omen, a possible sign that the yearly ritual would fail. The young Kurosawa, Ryokan the Remaining, had tried to calm down the heads of the prominent houses, Kiryu, Tsuchiara, Tachibana, and Osaka, telling them to tell their family there was no worry. No one dared to defy the white haired, easily angered young man. The Remaining is to be respected and feared, and the Kurosawa house was the 'master' of the village. Being both, Ryokan Kurosawa controlled the village and the fearful people easily.

A few children played loudly in front of the Tachibana house, running around in circles. Adults walking past them chuckled softly remembering their past as children and stopped when they realized the garden hoe or the wet clothes they held in their hands. 'To be that carefree,' they all thought. The laughing children all quieted at the sight coming near them and the adults froze at whatever they were doing. From the direction of the Tsuchiara house came two twins, both wearing pure white kimonos and with the same red tie around their waist connecting them to each other. The tall girls walked the muddy path quietly, looking down at the ground and with their long black hair covering their faces. The children backed away quickly to let them pass, and stared as they walked around the corner of the gap between the Tachibana and Kiryu houses. One or two peeked around the corner of the house and saw the twins kimonos flutter out of sight behind the house. The children's laughter screeched again and the adults went back to their morning routines as if nothing had happened.

Yoshitatsu Kiryu exited the large gate that led to the Kurosawa house and glanced briefly at the two guards who stood watch on either side. 'Such unbelievable security,' he thought as he crossed the wooden bridge with the clear blue water bubbling underneath. 'It's not needed at all, but I guess it's the ceremony master's decision.'

"How stupid," he whispered as he passed through the second and larger gate that led back to the village.

He paused and stared at the two girls walking toward him. He stepped to the side dazedly to let them pass. Yoshitatsu could faintly hear them say thank you, and could hear sniffling sounds from one of them as if she was fighting back tears. The other sister wrapped her arm over her other's shoulder and the gate was closed behind them, blocking them from Yoshitatsu's prying eyes. He twirled his sleeve nervously and walked up the set of stairs up to his house. He was about to open the side door when he remembered that his wife was still in labor. She refused to see anyone, but wanted someone to send for Yoshitatsu when the baby was about to enter the world. His open hand fell to his side and he thought about what he should do until he was wanted. Finally he decided to go to Misono Hill to think without many distractions.

As Yoshitatsu walked past the villagers, they stopped what they were doing and congratulated him about the upcoming birth of his child. He smiled pleasantly at their words but was at a loss on what he should say to them other than 'thank you'. It was an awkward situation that Yoshitatsu and his wife, Akane were in. The both of them were older, in their mid forties and they didn't have any other children, when people half their age had one or more. They were unprepared with the arrival of the newborn, and the village had tried their best to help them by giving them food they could spare. Even Ryokan Kurosawa had given them some money and some extra cloth for the dolls that Yoshitatsu built. As he walked up the inclined path, he could feel the small weight of the money in his kimono. As much as he hated Ryokan, he couldn't argue with the kindness that he gave to him and Akane.

At the top of the hill, Yoshitatsu walked over to the giant slab and stood in front of it, looking over the village. The slight wind blew his black with white specked hair from his wrinkled face. He looked at his shaky hands and wondered if he could even hold a child in them. Sure, he could hold the dolls but a child? A newborn is far more delicate than the dolls that littered his house. Akane's smiling face appeared in his thoughts. Despite her complete nervousness, she was able to act as though it didn't bother her, the fact that she had no idea on how to deal with a baby was the least of her worries. She only cared about how their life would change with a child running around. Yoshitatsu was excited about having his own child that would motivate him to put more energy, creativeness, and dedication into the dolls he created.

He looked up from his hands and saw the sun shining brightly over head.

"How long have I been standing here?" he asked himself.

It was well past noon, he hadn't eaten since last night when Akane near collapsed from pain and exhaustion. The doctor had told him that she was in labor and would give birth any moment. That was the point where Akane had woken up and had told him to leave the house for a while, have him clear his thoughts. Her face had frightened him, sweaty, pale, and wracked with pain; he didn't want to leave her side. He had never seen anyone in labor before, but he knew that something was wrong with his wife, and she didn't him to be with her. Suddenly, Yoshitatsu felt tired. He hadn't eaten and last night he hadn't slept well. His nerves didn't help him much either.

He sat on the dusty ground, not caring if he got mud on his blue kimono. As his eyes started to close he could faintly hear scuffling feet. He opened one of his eyes blearily, and saw a figure running toward him. If he wasn't as tired, he would have tried to stand up and greeted the person. The figure came closer and Yoshitatsu realized that it was the doctor's assistant. Still he didn't move. The woman leaned over him and tapped his shoulder, not seeing that one of his eyes was open.

"Master Kiryu," her voice said softly. "Master Kiryu, it's time."

After hearing this, Yoshitatsu bolted up and almost sent the assistant flying backwards as she yelled in surprise. His exhaustion was nearly gone, his eyes were still blurry and his voice was thick and croaky. He looked at the assistant and saw that she held a torch that he didn't see before. He looked upwards and saw that the sky was a deep, impenetrable black.

"I fell asleep?" he wondered out loud. "How long?"

"Had to be almost all day, sir. Now we really have got to go. You wouldn't want to miss the birth of your child, would you?" she added with a small smile.

Yoshitatsu shook his head as an answer and to try to see more clearly, it was no use; his eyes were unable to focus. He waved his hand for the assistant to lead and together, with him stumbling a few times, they reached his house.

Certain parts of the huge house were dimly lit, making it seem things were hiding in the shadows if one looked at them from the corner of their eye, fortunately the entrance was not one of these rooms. The assistant ran up the three stairs to the right and Yoshitatsu followed, slowly. They went through the next room where dolls were strewn across the floor; they went through the largest room in the whole house and went to the next room, not far from the Kiryu's shrine room. In this room, the two heard a loud yell from upstairs and they ran up the stairs, careful not to trip. As they reached the landing, Yoshitatsu went on ahead and turned the corner after going up a small flight of stairs. In this room h saw Akane on the floor and the doctor to her side checking her pulse. The assistant breezed past Yoshitatsu and went behind the doctor to where a bag was on Akane's clothing drawers.

Yoshitatsu walked over to Akane and sat on her other side. She laid back down after giving another yell of pain and turned to see her husband. She smiled weakly and he returned the smile. He reached to his side and picked up a blue rag, which he used to wipe her face of the tears and sweat.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Yoshitatsu smiled again, trying to hide the concern he had about how pale her face was. He looked over at the doctor and saw that his lips were closed tightly as he checked Akane's pulse again. Yoshitatsu wanted to ask the doctor what was wrong, but didn't want to upset his wife. The doctor looked up from Akane's wrist and noticed Yoshitatsu staring at him.

"Time for another push, Mrs. Kiryu," the doctor said gently.

The assistant sat in front of Akane. "The head's almost out. Probably three more pushes should do it."

"You hear that, Akane?" Yoshitatsu whispered excitedly. "Just three more pushes."

Akane repeated her procedure, sitting up, pushing and yelling, then laying back down. With every push she gave, she seemed to be getting weaker. Yoshitatsu thought that that was natural and decided to look only at his wife. He held her hand as she gave one last push. A loud crying came from where the assistant was and Yoshitatsu almost jumped with joy.

"Is that…our baby?" Akane whispered.

"Yes, it's a baby girl, Mrs. Kiryu." The assistant said, handing the baby to the proud father.

Yoshitatsu showed Akane and her smile brightened. "Azami…so beautiful…"

"Well, Mrs. Kiryu we need you to push a bit more, can you do it?"

Akane nodded slowly and did the same procedure over again. Yoshitatsu stared in disbelief. 'What? What's going on?' he thought frantically. 'Azami's out? Why is she still pushing?' He turned his attention to the doctor, who avoided his eye and went back to checking Akane's pulse. As he opened his mouth to ask, Yoshitatsu was cut off by the same crying scream he heard only moments ago.

"It's another girl." The assistant said over the screeching child.

"Twins?" Yoshitatsu asked dully as the assistant handed Akane the second child. "Wh…Twins?"

Akane looked up at Yoshitatsu and tried to speak, but the words died on her lips. Trying to speak again, she became overwhelmingly tired and fell back onto the floor, still clutching the younger twin. Yoshitatsu gasped in surprise and he wasn't the only one who did.

"Doctor?" the assistant whispered.

The doctor peered around to where the assistant was and hastily checked Akane's pulse again. Yoshitatsu watched the two in confusion and grabbed the other child from Akane's hands. As soon as he touched her skin, he felt coldness. Her fingertips were ice cold and were frozen in the grasping position.

"Akane?" he whispered. "Doctor…is she…?"

The doctor fell back and shook his head. "Mr. Kiryu, I'm sorry, sir. I…I really am truly…sorry."

The assistant laid Akane's legs down neatly and fixed her clothes. Yoshitatsu only blinked, he had mixed feelings ad many thoughts going through his mind but couldn't discern which he should experience. Joy, sorrow, 'My wife…dead…twins…ritual…'. The doctor put his hand on Yoshitatsu's shoulder and tried to speak in a reassuring way.

"Mr. Kiryu, we'll take Mrs. Kiryu now. And let Miss Sagi take the twins to the nursery."

The assistant, Miss Sagi held out her hands to take the children but Yoshitatsu wouldn't oblige her at first. After a short while, he lifted blue-eyed Azami into her arms, but still held onto the gray-eyed nameless child.

"We haven't named you yet," he muttered.

The doctor helped the older man to his feet, careful of the sleeping child in his arms. "Please, go to the nursery with Miss Sagi, sir."

In a daze, Yoshitatsu followed the young lady downstairs, going through the door opposite of a cart that led to a hall. They walked down until they reached an opening where another door was. In this room there were two cradles, two large drawers, two mirrors, two tatami mats, two paper shade lamps, many toys that Yoshitatsu had built, there was only one screen near the lattice on the other side of the room, this depicted a scene of flocking crimson butterflies. He stared in amazement, no one had told him they made double of everything, Akane had never told him she was expecting twins. This was a total shock to him.

Miss Sagi placed Azami delicately into the cradle, making sure not to wake her. "Can you tell them apart, sir?"

Yoshitatsu nodded, dimly aware of Miss Sagi taking the other child and placing her in the opposite cradle. "Their eyes are different, Azami's are blue…"

"What are you going to name the other child, sir? If you don't mind my asking," she added quickly, not wanting to upset him even further.

He thought about it and only one name came to his mind. "Akane."

Miss Sagi smiled and exited the room, leaving Yoshitatsu with his daughters. Before he realized it, he started to cry, the most he had ever cried in his life. His wife was dead; his children were destined to a fate that was out of their hands, how could he live with this?

* * *

Outside the Kiryu house, the village was in an uproar. The Tsuchiara twins had tried to run away from the ritual, going through the open hole in the large tree. An over excited sickle bearer discovered them turning the wheels of the table which would open the door in the Kureha Shrine, enabling them to escape. When he found them he urged them to get away, but the older twin stayed her ground and continued to turn the wheels. In anger at her stubbornness, he stabbed her sharply inadvertently cutting her neck and slicing her head clear off in a shower of blood. The younger twin became distraught and attacked him, but in his self defense, he flashed the sickle across her chest and cut her deeply. She continued to fight him despite the gash but bled out after her fifth punch to his face.

The young ceremony master heard the clamor and ran inside. As he saw the terrible sight he ordered that the sickle bearer appease the Hellish Abyss as the Kusabi. After the ritual was performed, the ground had rumbled, not accepting the failed Kusabi. They knew the Repentance would come soon but there were no twins that could perform the next ritual. The ceremony master had ordered that the rest of the ones who had searched for the twins to become the next mourners, in his anger. As the rest of the village found out about the atrocities, they realized how close to death they would all come without any sacrifice.

It was at this moment the doctor and the assistant that had treated the Kiryu's came down the path with Akane's dead body in a makeshift gurney and covered with a white sheet, told the villagers that there were twins born not only an hour ago in the Kiryu house. The villagers all sighed with relief, not caring that Mrs. Kiryu had died after giving birth, not caring that Yoshitatsu Kiryu had no idea before this that his wife had twins, not caring that there were other sacrifices given on this day, they only cared that they had a chance to live.

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The next morning was once again grey, cloudy and rainy. Yoshitatsu Kiryu stood in front of his wife's newly buried grave, smelling the scent of earth, mingled with death and rain. Ryokan Kurosawa had told him all of what happened the night before only a few minutes ago. He had told him that his daughters, when they were old enough, would be the next Shrine Maidens in the ritual. Yoshitatsu fought with himself to not yell at the master and only nodded.

His walk home was a drastic change from yesterday, instead of smiling faces there was only sadness, but their eyes were all bright with the knowledge that they would still live, even though others would and had died.

Yoshitatsu Kiryu vowed to himself that his daughters, Azami and Akane, would live happily, never knowing the terrible events that had preceded their birth. He only wished to protect them for as long as he could, although he knew it wouldn't be long.

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_So, what do you think? I want reviews this time! I don't care what you say, just give them, please! _


	2. Chapter 2

_I won't write as descriptive like that in the beginning much anymore. Sorry, it's a habit. This also might be the shortest chapter I've written since it's kind if a filler. _

_This chapter's about how the two girls got along with each other, their father, the village and villagers, and what they think about the ritual. It'll switch perspectives, but I'll try to make it seem not confusing. That make sense?

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**Chapter 2- Together**

_Azami and I had an argument today. It was stupid, but she makes me so mad! It was my doll, and she broke it. And she lied about it! 'I didn't want to hurt your feelings.' It was my favorite doll! Dad said it took him longer than usual to build it! _

_Azami...why is she so...weird? Different-like? She gets so scared and stuff. I'm not like that, no I'm not. Maybe it's because we have to do the ritual...I don't want to X my sister! I hate her, but I can't X her!_

Akane looked at what she wrote and wrapped her fingers around the pale purple stone that hung from her neck. She could hear shuffling feet from behind the door in front of her. Fearing it was her younger sister; she quickly stood up and ran to her drawer, stuffing the violet notebook underneath some folded kimonos. She closed the small drawer just as the door opened. Her white haired, almost sickeningly thin father entered the children's room. He smiled weakly at her and Akane brushed her long hair away from her face so her father could see her smile back.

'Dad, he always is happy, but his eyes…they look like they're about to cry.' Akane thought. 'Why? Is it because of the ritual?'

"Akane," her father said softly. "Your sister is upstairs crying, but she won't tell me why. Can you?"

Akane frowned slightly. She didn't know what to say. 'Azami tells dad everything. Why isn't she telling him this?'

"Uhm…Azami and I had…a fight." She paused and looked at her father. His face fell. "But…I'm sorry dad!" she said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to! She…she broke the doll."

Yoshitatsu looked at his daughter, the same happy grin that he had when his daughters talked about dolls burst onto his face. "Is that all? Well, let me see it, Akane."

Akane looked down, causing her long black hair to cloud her face again. She went behind her mirror stand and grabbed pieces of the broken doll. The arms, head, and legs were in one hand, the body was held limply in the other. As she handed the doll to her father, he held them up to his face and examined it more closely. He muttered to himself so that Akane couldn't hear, and tried to fit the pieces into their holes but they wouldn't go in. Akane was about to cry, but she stopped at the thought that it might make her seem weak.

In her young life, Akane had never cried. Azami was the one who did and she would cry about anything. The biggest thing she cried about was that she had no memories of her mother. Akane thought about this too, but never dwelled on it as much as her younger twin did. Yoshitatsu tried to cheer them up by telling stories about their mother, but that made Azami seem even more upset, if not angry. Akane didn't know why and every time she asked, Azami would change the subject.

"It's easy to fix, Akane." Yoshitatsu said, looking back at his daughter. "I can fix it in about four hours."

"Really?" Akane shouted, almost jumping in happiness.

"But, first, I think that you should talk to your sister." Akane sighed. "It's that or your doll won't get fixed."

Akane opened her mouth to argue but decided not to. She pouted a bit, this often worked on her father, but he left without looking at her. He was still mumbling to himself on how to fix the doll when he went through the door behind the screen. Akane sighed again and went through the door into the hall. The wooden hall was well lit, unlike other days. Akane stepped out from the indent and wondered which way she should go. She decided to go through the projector room and upstairs because Azami would occasionally read to calm down. She dragged her feet like she always did when she was angry, sending dust in the air, and went on a search to find her sister.

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Azami sat on the floor in the raised tatami room, wiping her eyes with her blue sleeve. Her father had just been upstairs and tried to talk to her, but Azami didn't feel like talking, she just wanted to be alone and think.

_Akane,_

_I'm sorry I broke your doll, I didn't mean to. It just happened._

Azami looked at the piece of paper next to her foot and crumpled it up, muttering, "That's stupid." She threw the paper away nonchalantly, and stared at the floor remembering last night.

She heard her father talking to the ceremony master, Mr. Kurosawa. The two talked in his doll room while under the impression the twin girls were asleep. Azami was only awake because of a nightmare and she had wanted to find her father since she didn't want to wake Akane, especially since the dream was of Akane.

"The Repentanance will come," she heard a muffled voice say loudly. Azami had crept closer to the work room and pressed her ear to the door. "Without the girls' sacrifice, the village will die!"

"Azami and Akane are only five years old!" she heard her father yell. Azami stared in disbelief. Her father was yelling, he hardly ever did, at the Ceremony Master? That could've been considered a death sentence. "Neither of them will understand why this is being asked…no, forced upon them!"

"They don't have to understand," Azami heard the younger man hiss. She straightened up and pressed harder against the door to hear him. "They need only to do what must be done. The older must kill the younger. This has been a ritual performed throughout the ages. It must be done, Yoshitatsu."

"Can't it wait until they are both older?" he added sarcastically. "Ryokan?"

"No," he said coldly. "It cannot. They will perform the ritual in a week's time. I will come back then."

Azami heard shuffling noises and stood up quickly, almost tripping and falling backwards. She turned around and searched the wall for the door to the family's altar room. She closed the door just as the other opened. Curious, she decided to open the door a crack and listened to the rest of her father's and the young master's conversation.

"We'll be glad to expect you again, Ryokan." Her father said darkly. Azami still wondered why he was speaking to the master this way. It frightened her, but it almost made her laugh. She covered her mouth just in case she burst out into laughter.

"Goodnight, Mr. Kiryu."

Her father only said "hmm" as a response. She could hear the door open and close and faintly she could hear the front door close. Thinking now would be a good time to go back to bed, she left the room. She was about to turn the corner and go to her room when her father called her sister's name. Azami turned around.

"Akane?" he repeated.

"No, Azami." She pointed at herself as she said it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he rubbed his eyes. "Why are you up at this hour?"

"I had a…a bad dream." Azami said quietly looking down at the floor and shuffling her bare feet on the cold boards.

"About what?"

Azami frowned in the darkness and wondered if she should say, after just hearing her father and Mr. Kurosawa talk about the ritual. "About, me…and Akane." She whispered dodging the true answer.

"What about you and your sister?" her father asked, tiredly. Then he suddenly realized that she might have heard. "Did you hear the conversation between me and Mr. Kurosawa?"

Azami nodded and tried not to cry. In the dark it was impossible for Mr. Kiryu to see the shining tears that streaked his young daughter's face. Her father sighed and couldn't think of what to say. Instead her led her back to her room and told her that they would talk in the morning. As soon as her father left Azami cried more, mainly because she was angry that her father didn't want to talk now but would have talked to her sister.

In her anger, she threw the book nearest her onto her twin's drawer and the doll on top fell to the floor with a muffled crash. Akane was an incredibly heavy sleeper and couldn't hear anything. Azami stared at what she had done in confusion. Quickly she had grabbed the pieces and hid them in the back of the room behind the mirrors. Finally, she had fallen asleep, but was awoken hours later by her sister's frantic screams.

Azami jerked out of her memories and listened to the creaking floorboards, someone was coming near. Akane rounded the corner and stood in the open threshold watching her younger sister. They both flicked their long bangs out of their faces and there was an awkward silence between them. Finally, Akane looked toward the window and made a small comment.

"Can you hear? The villagers are happy about something." Her small, high pitched voice almost sounded like Azami's.

Azami looked up and could hear the cheers from outside. "Do you know why?"

"Nope. And I don't care. Do you?"

Azami shook her head. The villagers always stare at them in some sort of happiness, it scared her and Akane and now that Azami knew why they were celebrating, she hated them even more. The two girls hated the villagers for seeing how unaffected they were by the fact that Azami would die. 'All they care about is living, even though others have to die for their safety,' their father had told them. 'I hate their morals and that's why I wish we would have left, but it would be hard to.' The two girls didn't know why it was so hard to leave, but they both agreed it had something to with their mother, whose grave they visited once every month.

"We're going to perform the ritual soon," Azami whispered and Akane stared in wonder.

"When?"

"I don't know, sometime next week, I think." Akane frowned at this thought. "Dad was mad."

"How do you know?" Akane asked angrily.

"I woke up last night. I had a nightmare." Azami looked back down as the image of her sister slowly squeezing the life out of her flashed in her mind. "I went to the work room, and heard him and Mr. Kurosawa talking."

Akane looked down at the floor too. "We should spend more time with Dad then. Instead of running off to explore, we should stay here."

Azami nodded and the two girls went downstairs, holding each other's hands, and talked at length with their father.

* * *

_Azami and I agreed that we wouldn't cry in front of dad when we thought about the ritual. We'll whisper to each other sometimes about it, but dad doesn't mind. He knows how sad we really are, even if we're not showing it. Tomorrow we're going to visit mom's grave together, one last time before Azami (a large ink spot) has to (another large spot) die._

_Azami will be a butterfly and she said she'd watch over me and dad. I don't want to kill her! She's my sister. What will I do without her? She's annoying and whiny, but I love her. Without her, there's no reason to really live. _

_Do all Remainings have these thoughts? Do all Remainings miss their sister or brother? I don't want her to die! But she has to. We can't run away and leave our dad. That would be worse. _

_She'll be with me though, as one, so we'll never really be apart.

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_

_Akane is taking this worse than I thought she would. She's the stronger one! She can't break down like this! She has to be there for dad! I swore that I'd watch over her and dad as a butterfly, but can I really? There are barely any butterflies seen until another ritual is performed, does this mean that I won't be able to keep my promise? No, I'll keep it. No matter what, I'll be there for her and dad. _

_Me and Akane will be one and the villagers will still live. A part of me wishes that the Repentanance will happen so that the village will know our pain, but it won't fail. The dream I had, it showed that it works and Akane becomes a Remaining. _

_I'll miss them. And I'll never leave them when I'm a butterfly. A crimson butterfly. I'll stay with them.

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_

_So, a little shorter than usual, but still good. Right? I'll write the next chapter soon, but first I want to finish one of the Himuro endings. _


	3. Chapter 3

'_The older must kill the younger for the sake of the village,' Akane whispers to herself, staring at Azami. 'The ritual will be performed.'_

_Akane and Azami's last moments together before the ritual, the ritual itself, and the thought of the doll. _

_No cleansing either because it would make the chapter longer, but I doubt anyone will really care. Enjoy?

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**Chapter 3-Sacrifice**

Azami stared at herself in the mirror. Her pure white kimono was slightly itchy and she didn't like the color. She loved her blue, gray, and purple kimonos with the design at the bottom of each. Her father had a hard time to convince her to keep it on, but she didn't argue as much because her father was sad enough. Every time he looked at her, his eyes teared up and he had to turn away from her.

Azami glanced over at her sister and saw her shift back and forth uncomfortably and twirl the red rope that hung tightly across her waist. With every twirl Azami was moved forward, since the same rope was tied around her waist as well. Akane was avoiding her sister's eyes at every cost. She didn't want to think about what she had to do later tonight…the thought of strangling her sister was too much for her young mind to comprehend. Azami sighed and grabbed the blue stone around her neck; a sudden thought came into her mind. She tore the thread off her neck and walked over to Akane.

"I want you to have this," she said, handing her sister the necklace.

"Why? It's yours."

"Keep it, so you won't forget me," she smiled brightly.

"But…but…" Akane stammered. "I won't forget you."

"Just take it. Keep it for dad or give it to a close friend. I won't need it when I…"

Azami stopped, her voice caught in her throat. Akane hung her head and put the necklace around her neck, just over her purple stone. She gave her sister a small smile and turned around when footsteps could be heard. The two girls temporarily stopped breathing when they saw Mr. Kurosawa stroll into their room, followed by two priests and their father. With a small inclination of his head, Ryokan Kurosawa made the two priests usher the girls forward. They stumbled slightly, the red rope making sure that one wouldn't run without dragging the other. Azami glanced up at her father as they passed him in the doorway, he smiled slightly but the smile only worried her more.

The small group turned from the indent in the hall to the left and walked to a reddish door, the only door in the Kiryu house that wasn't wooden brown. As they entered the doll room, Ryokan laughed derisively as he saw the two life size dolls of Yoshitatsu's daughters standing on pedestals.

"This," he said, still mocking the older man. "Is the passageway to the X?"

"It's very effective, Ryokan." Yoshitatsu said. "The Tachibanas have a similar set-up; two dolls facing each other are the only way to open their sky bridge. Just as ours is the only way to open the earth bridge."

"I meant no offence," Ryokan said, still smiling in a mocking way.

Azami tuned the two arguing men out and looked around the room. The tables with the red material draped over them and the soft lights from the lamps, was a gentle scene. She loved to look at the many dolls stored in this room. Her father made some of the most intricate designs it seemed to even surprise him. She walked over to the nearest doll, Akane moving slightly by the rope, and reached up for it. Her hand barely grazed the top of the lowest display. She tried again, standing on her toes, but she still couldn't reach it. Her sister grabbed at her sleeve and tugged her away from the stand.

"Leave it alone," she whispered in her ear.

Azami frowned, but stood silent with Akane while her father turned the knobs on the small altar and with Ryokan watching him. The young master turned his head and looked at the twin girls. Akane looked at him fiercely, but Azami looked down at the floor. The two priests stood guard and almost looked bored. A small noise could be heard as the two dolls turned to face each other. Yoshitatsu stepped back and the mechanism slid back to reveal a hole with metal bars on the side to hold the ladder in place. The priests moved forward, but Ryokan shook his head.

"After you," he muttered to the two girls.

They glanced at each other and moved to the hole. They looked down it and they suddenly wondered how they would be able to climb down with the rope tying them together. Akane looked pleafully at her father when Ryokan took it upon himself to tell the girls how to do it.

"One goes down first and the other follows, it's really rather simple."

Akane opened her mouth to say something back, but Azami was already climbing down the ladder. The two girls reached the bottom and looked at how big it was. A huge cavern that intertwined to the other houses. Azami looked behind her and could see a turn that probably led to the Tachibana house. She briefly saw herself and Akane running away and going to wherever the turn led.

"Even if we ran," Akane said, looking at her sister and seeing her concentration. "They'd still find us, you know?"

"Yeah, but we should've tried it."

"It wouldn't work." Akane pressed.

"How do you know?" Azami asked loudly. "Anything's possible, right? That's what you said a couple of days ago. Remember?"

"Ssssh!" Akane said loudly, cupping her hand around Azami's mouth as the rest of the group climbed down the ladder.

Ryokan led the way with the priests on either side of the girls and with Yoshitatsu trailing behind. They walked down the cave, occasionally shivering from the cold drafts of wind or flinching from the sudden torches that lined the cavern's walls. Azami reached for her sister's hand and grasped it tightly. Akane looked down at her hand and tried to wriggle it loose, but Azami's grip was too strong. Azami glanced at her sister as she tried to free her hand and Akane stopped, looking at the cave as if she were more interested in it. 'What's her problem?' Azami thought. 'After this…we'll never see each other again. Why's she acting like she doesn't care?' She turned her head to see her father and what his reaction was, but with the darkness of the cave it was impossible to see anything but an outline.

The walk took longer than what the two girls thought. There were sudden turns, many openings that led to the other houses, and lots of stairs. Akane's and Azami's greatest shock was when they saw a Mourner. After the group had taken a turn and went into a bigger opening with a large set of steps that led down, a man with ropes tied across his chest and with a fabric over his eyes, had stepped from a small corner. Ryokan hadn't paid any attention to him and continued to walk, the priests had to force the girls to move on, and Yoshitatsu only glanced at him almost sadly. The twins both tried to shake the vision of the gangly, blind man from their minds but it was too hard, especially with the sound of shuffling feet from behind their father. Akane braved a quick glance back, but couldn't see if he was there.

They continued to walk down, eventually the air became a bit less stuffy, the cave was brighter, almost purple, and the walls started to widen out so there could be a little more space between the twins and the priests. Azami started to shake a little, realizing how close they were to where the ritual will be performed. Akane looked at her sister as her shaking hand was starting to annoy her. Azami stopped shaking after seeing her sister's glare.

'Is she mad at me?'

'I wish you would stop. You think I want to do this? I don't want to kill you.'

'Just because I'm weaker than her doesn't mean anything.'

'I wish we had tried to run away, even if we never saw Dad again…why did I keep saying no to you?'

'She won't forget me, right?'

'I don't want you to leave me.'

Akane and Azami were too deep in their thoughts to realize that they were standing in a large, open area with thousands of lit candles, making the place seem redder than bluish green. A small tatami mat was in front of the largest bunch of candles. Azami was the first to look up. She gasped in surprise and Akane took in the surroundings. Footsteps echoed in the "room" from everywhere. Azami turned around and saw more veiled priests and Mourners. Her father had moved to the right, just out of Azami's view. Akane watched Ryokan as he stood near the mat, in the candle light he seemed to look paler than usual.

'Does he feel our pain?'

'If he felt anything of ours, he wouldn't be making us do this.'

Ryokan made a slight hand motion and the girls felt hands on their shoulders, lightly forcing them to move forward. Kurosawa backed away and let the girls stand on the mat. With the girls properly aligned the priests backed away to either side of them, making a line. Akane looked sadly at her father, who had his face in his hands.

'Dad…'

'I don't want to kill her…'

'I'll be with her…'

'She said she'd watch us…'

Ryokan was muttering something, it almost sounded like a low chant. Akane smiled slightly noticing his cockiness had faded along with his pallor. Azami tightened her grip on her other's hand, Akane returned the sentiment. A light breeze ruffled the twins' kimonos and made their long hair cover their faces again.

"Face each other," Kurosawa said, weakly. He walked over and cut the rope that bound them.

The two girls did as they were told, slowly dropping their clasped hands. Akane's hands twitched, knowing what they were to be used for. Azami stared into her sister's eyes. Akane almost cried seeing how strong they were, not her usual weak shine making it seem as if she was always holding back her tears.

"Grasp the neck," Kurosawa's voice rang clearly.

Akane twitched and placed her hands delicately on Azami's neck. She tried to muster the strength to strangle her sister, but it seemed impossible. Azami lowered her gaze and stood still, waiting for her sister to begin. Reluctantly, Akane squeezed her sister's small neck. Azami's breath slowed after a while, but she still stood. Akane forced herself to squeeze tighter and when she did, Azami fell to her knees. Akane followed suit, her hands never leaving her sister's neck. A small red mark could faintly be seen under Akane's thumbs. Azami's eyes closed, but she was still able to breathe. After more time passed Ryokan made another motion to a priest to help the young girl. He leaned down and put his hands over Akane's. Azami's eyes opened and with a strangled voice she yelled to the priest.

"I…only want…Akane…to do…it!"

Akane's eyes teared up after hearing how much pain her sister was in. The priest let go and backed away to his spot in the line. Azami smiled slightly at her sister and her eyes closed again, her breathing almost nonexistent. With one last squeeze, Akane pressed the tightest against Azami's neck. Azami's smiling mouth opened, and one long breath escaped her lips.

'Her last breath…'

Akane sat there, motionless with her hands still on her sister's neck, while the priests banged their staffs to the ground in short bursts, making their rings clank together. The Mourners moved forward and groped blindly for Azami's body. Akane's hands dropped to her sides and Azami's body fell into a Mourner's arms. Akane could see the mark on her sister's neck shining brightly in the candle's light. Her eyes were tightly closed and her lips were still in the same smile. Akane looked down, unable to hide her pain. Tears fell down her cheek and slid down onto her kimono sleeves. She heard footsteps as everyone went downstairs.

"Akane," her father whispered, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Let's go…we should follow…"

Akane nodded but couldn't stand up, her whole body felt like lead. Yoshitatsu lifted her into his arms and walked down the stone steps. When they reached the bottom, Akane stared at the torii gate and looked farther past the large gathering of priests to see a giant square hole.

"The X…" her voice echoed quietly.

Yoshitatsu breezed past the priests and came to the front in a matter of seconds. The Mourners were swinging Azami's body back and forth, making sure that she wouldn't miss because of her size. Akane cried at the sight and tugged at her father's sleeve to be put down. Yoshitatsu gently placed her on the ground just as the Mourners released her arms and ankles. Akane screamed as she saw her sister's body fall. She ran to the edge of the hole and almost looked down, but her head was caught in Ryokan's hands. He half dragged from the edge.

"You're not supposed to look down there…" he muttered, only for her to hear.

Akane freed herself from his grip and stared hopefully over the hole for her sister to fly back as a butterfly.

'Please, I didn't fail her…I didn't fail her…'

She wiped her eyes as she saw a small crimson butterfly rise slowly from the hole. The priests cheered and Ryokan smiled satisfactorily, patting the girl's shoulder before he turned. Yoshitatsu stared in amazement, tears streaming from his eyes. Akane stepped forward and raised her hand out to the butterfly. The butterfly floated lazily to her hand and stayed on her forefinger. It flapped its wings lightly sending small gold sparkles over Akane's wrist. The butterfly finally flew from Akane's finger, and flew to her neck, staying there momentarily before flying away to the sky. Akane placed a finger on her neck and knew that the same mark she had given her sister was stained on her.

* * *

_My hands closed around Azami's neck._

_It was soft, warm. Alive. My grip seemed to cause her so much pain. At the very end, the veiled priest came to help me. But Azami said she wanted only me to do it. I became one with Azami...but now she's gone._

_I can't talk about it anymore.

* * *

_

_Akane has become a Remaining._

_To comfort her, I'll make a doll that looks like Azami. She has been emotionless since the day of the ritual. I'll make the doll look exactly like Azami, so that when they are together, no one will be able to tell them apart.

* * *

_

_Ta-da. Chapter four will be up soon, and then I'll finish another Himuro ending. Tell me what you think, alright?_


	4. Chapter 4

_Akane is a Remaining, emotionless, shuns all contact. Reclusive. It is expected among the villagers especially for someone so young. Yoshitatsu, however; wishes to help his daughter in any way he can. Using his extraordinary talent in doll making, he builds a replacement Azami. All goes well until the doll becomes possessed and Akane becomes a puppet of the doll..._

_The doll's view will be included. Also, I use X or XX days later only because there really is no real timeline other than Akane's and Azami's story happened 'long before the Repentance.'

* * *

_

**Chapter 4- Return**

_Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill?_

Feverish scratches from the stylus onto the paper were all that young Akane Kiryu could hear. She had not cared to celebrate with the rest of the village. They were safe, Azami was forever gone. Nothing could change what had happened. Her sister's death couldn't have been prevented, no matter what she had tried to convince herself. Many people had tried to see her, give thanks, present flowers and other gifts. She had told her father to turn them away and he did with every guest. No one could bring what she yearned for…no one could bring back Azami.

Her black hair fell into her eyes, but she left it there. Azami hated hair in her eyes and anyone else's. With her gone, Akane could see no reason to feign interest. She threw the stylus onto the floor and slammed the violet book shut. The ink to her right almost fell, but she caught it deftly and put it back onto the desk. She stood up and put her diary in the crevice of the family altar, making sure it was completely hidden from view. After she made sure no one would find it except herself, she left the room and marched slowly back to her room. As she was about to open the door she could faintly hear her father yelling at someone in the entrance of the house.

"I'm sorry," he yelled. "My daughter does not want to see anyone! Yes, yes I'll leave the gifts for her, but please let her alone!"

As she closed her door, the other door had slammed as well. She sighed and silently thanked her father as she sat on the tatami mat. She resisted the urge to look at her sister's side of the room and opened the drawer underneath her mirror stand. Inside was her sister's pale purple necklace. She took it out and stared at it.

"_I want you to have it."_

"_But it's yours."_

"_I don't want you to forget about me."_

"_But...but I won't forget you"_

"_Take it, I won't need it when I..."_

Tears rolled down Akane's face at the sudden memory of her sister. She put the stone away and rolled onto the floor, crying herself to sleep.

* * *

Yoshitatsu sighed heavily as he leaned onto his work table. Pieces of paper and doll parts were strewn over the table and the parts not in boxes were in a small corner of the upper right of the room. He rubbed his temples as he thought about the doll of Azami.

"She should look exactly like the twin mechanism," he muttered to himself. "…it shouldn't be that hard. I'd just need to find the right color glass for the eyes for realism. That could take days, Akane needs something now!"

He slammed his fist onto the table. Where would he find the right color glass for the eyes? He thought for a short while, but decided that he shouldn't worry about the eyes until last. He went to the box and grabbed the necessary cogs, cords; everything needed to make the perfect doll…the perfect replacement.

Hours later he had succeeded in finishing little more than half of the Azami doll. All he needed was an arm, one of her purple kimonos, finish making the face, and the eyes. Satisfied that he had done quite a lot than he had expected of himself, he grabbed the doll and put it in a separate box that he had cleaned out earlier. 'It should be finished by tomorrow,' he thought, closing the door behind him. 'Akane…she'll be so excited. I can't wait to see her happy again.'

* * *

The next day had started out uneventful. Akane woke up; still expecting to hear her sister's pacing footsteps. She half-expected to see her standing and staring at herself in the mirror, making sure her hair was out of her face and her kimono was perfect. She wanted to hear her cheery morning welcome, "About time, Akane! I've been up for hours! Let's go, okay?" She would have killed to see her bright smile. She missed her ringing laughter.

It never came. None of it would ever come back. Azami was gone.

Akane stood up and went to her dresser, picking out her purple kimono. She put it on quietly, still avoiding eye contact with Azami's side. She had no idea what she was going to do; Azami was the one who had always thought of adventures. Akane had thoughts but hers were rather simple compared to Azami's. She turned and decided to go the doll room. She walked silently, not caring to look up when she brushed past one of the younger children who must have sneaked past her father. She opened the red door and went inside, staring at the doll mechanism.

"_This is the passageway to the X?"_

It was amazing to her how close the dolls resembled her and her sister. Akane glanced at the table to her right and could see Azami reaching for the doll. She turned away from it and stared at the doll Azami. Akane sat on the floor in front of it, looking up into its shadowy face. She wanted to cry again, but couldn't. She felt completely numb, every memory of her sister seemed sharp and cold, but it didn't bother her as it did yesterday. Akane rubbed her throat and the memory of the butterfly flooded back into her mind. She pushed it away and focused her mind only on the doll in front of her.

'If only it was real.'

* * *

Yoshitatsu stared triumphantly at the blue glass in his hands. He couldn't stop smiling at his catch. How lucky was it that one of Akane's gifts was a glass vase, a blue one nonetheless? He didn't seem to think Akane would mind that he had gotten rid of the flowers. She had never seemed interested in flowers, and he knew that she wouldn't care about the vase. After all, it now had a more important duty to the replacement of Azami.

He placed the freshly cut glass eyes gingerly on his work table, and fished the doll out of the box. He reconnected the arm and placed the kimono on the doll. He set it behind him, just in front the screen. It looked odd without its head, but Yoshitatsu was far too used to that sort of appearance he didn't even pass a glance as he searched for the right paints for Azami's face.

He brushed the silky black hair out of the doll's face and concentrated solely on his departed daughter's image. In little under an hour he had finished, all that had to be done was put the eyes in and make any adjustments to them, and to attach the head to the neck. Carefully, he placed the eyes in the open sockets, and was surprised that no minor adjustments had to be made. Smiling again, he lifted the head and placed it on the neck until he heard a click. He stood back and looked admiringly at his best accomplishment.

"Azami…"

* * *

"_I…only want…Akane…to do it…!" _

Akane jerked from her sleep. The dream of her and her sister in the altar room was one that kept repeating. Akane sat up and did her morning ritual, brush her hair and put on her purple kimono, and was about to go to the doll room when sudden shuffling noises from behind the screen on the other side of the room stopped her. Waiting patiently Akane saw her father round the corner with something in his arms…no not _something_…_someone_.

"Azami!" Akane yelled, running over to her "sister". "She's…you…you brought her back! But…but…how?"

Yoshitatsu smiled, but couldn't find anything to say about how Azami came back. "Azami…wanted to come back."

Despite the lameness of that lie, Akane didn't mind…didn't care. Her thoughts were only on the fact that Azami had come back to her and her father. Yoshitatsu only sighed, thinking that one day she would find out that Azami was a doll now. He patted Akane's shoulder and left the room as Akane leant over to Azami's ear and started whispering to her.

* * *

_Father brought Azami back. All I could do was apologize._

_She forgave me. The killing is over now. No more. I'll never hurt anyone again.

* * *

_

_Akane never leaves Azami's side for even a second, always whispering things to her. I don't know what she says, but at least she seems to be slowly returning to her former self.

* * *

_

**X days later**

A loud sound awoke Akane and she saw that Azami was missing from her side. Frantic, she sat up and searched the dark bedroom for her sister, but there was no sign of her. She stood up and went through the hall of contrasts to look for her. She wrapped her white sleeves around her, her soft footsteps padded lightly through the hall. Shivering slightly, she turned the corner and heard a door slam from the other end of the hall.

"Azami?" her high pitched voice asked. "Where are you?"

Akane backtracked to the other end of the hall and went into the projection room. She hurried through this room, afraid of the images that would suddenly flash on the wall. Akane ran over to the stairs as she heard the door above her close. She hurried up the stairs and entered the next room. Still no sign of Azami.

Getting colder with every passing second, she retraced her steps and went back to her room. She lay on the floor for what seemed like hours, but Azami hadn't come back. Finally, she drifted off to an unsettling sleep full of dolls telling her to kill.

The doll Azami stood at the top of the stairs. Looking down, she could see a large bare room with only a lone clock by the door. Memories of the sister and her entered her mind. She shook them away, her neck making noises unlike what she had made when she was alive.

"Father made me this way," she whispered, her wooden lips barely moving. "A doll…no heart to feel with, no mind to think with, without soul to live. Sister brought my soul back. Why? She killed…"

The door opened and Azami saw her father's outline. He looked up, hearing the echo of the voice and footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Akane?" he asked.

Azami didn't answer and instead turned around, walking awkwardly back to her and her sister's room. Yoshitatsu stared at the sight. That was not his daughter. He backed out of the room quickly and went back to his work room.

* * *

_Last night, I heard footsteps. I thought it was Akane, but it was really Azami-walking by herself. Akane has spent so much time thinking of her sister, a spirit must have taken over the doll. It is said that when a spirit takes residence in a doll, it can steal the souls of others.

* * *

_

**X days later**

"He wants to kill me…"

"I don't want to kill…"

"You killed me!"

"I don't want…"

"You want me to die again!"

"I don't…"

"You will kill him or I will…"

"I don't want to kill…"

* * *

_She's like a doll. _

_Controlled by Azami, she keeps repeating, "I don't want to kill," over and over. She looks so much like my daughter...Azami must be killed, again.

* * *

_

_Father says Azami has been possessed, and he's trying to kill her. He's trying to kill Azami. I won't let him do it. I won't let that happen anymore.

* * *

_

Akane walked silently to the doll room. Her eyes were glazed, her motions were mechanical. She walked in front of the Azami doll mechanism. Carefully, she stood on the pedestal that the unmoving doll stood sentinel on and held the arms tightly from under the sleeves. With a quick movement, she tore the arms from the sockets and threw them carelessly over her shoulder. Akane held onto the waist with one arm for support and with the other, she twisted the head off.

With her bounty in her arms, she gathered the limbs and walked around the house placing the parts in separate boxes. One arm in the sliding screen room, the other in the second floor stair room, and the head in the storeroom. Her task completed, she walked back to her and Azami's room. Azami only looked up from her sleep as Akane lay down next to her. She knew that her sister had obeyed her orders.

* * *

_Akane damaged the mechanism to access the passageway, and she took part of the doll. I have to restore the twin doll to normal, and drop the possessed doll of Azami into the X, to send that spirit back to hell._

_But that path was the only way to the X...

* * *

_

Azami watched her father as he ran past her in fear. She smiled, as much as her lips would allow. Akane had done what she had told her to do, with amazing results. Her father was absolutely frantic now, trying to find the missing parts, and she couldn't help but laugh about it.

"Can't kill me now…can you father…?" she whispered as the door closed behind him. "Locking yourself in your room…what will that succeed in?"

Akane came from behind the corner. She was deathly pale now and her voice was so soft as if the mark on her throat was strangling her. She glanced at the doll and waited expectantly for what she had to say, but nothing came. Instead she went back to her room and Akane followed obediently.

* * *

Yoshitatsu stared hopelessly at his table. Nothing could be done, the parts were missing and he had no idea where they were hiding. He turned around to face the screen when he saw a fuzzy outline of a girl just in front of it. Kiryu backed away quickly, fearing it was the spirit of the doll coming to kill him. The girl lifted her head and he could see a faint red mark on her small neck.

"A…Azami?" He asked weakly.

She walked forward and grabbed his hand. Yoshitatsu saw a brief flash of a box. The girl stepped away and vanished as soon as she had appeared. He looked down at where she was standing and saw the girl's notebook lying there with two small glass balls next to it. He picked up the balls and saw that they were the eyes to the doll mechanism. He put them in his pocket and opened the book lying on the floor.

_YoU Don'T NeeD a sUbSTitUte. for Me._

_I aM parT oF AkANe Now._

_I aM One wIth AkaNE._

_KILL. IT._

_KiLL ThaT StupID dOll!

* * *

_

_I saw Azami, even though she should be in the X now..._

_She was asking me to kill the Azami doll. I have made a grave mistake. The twins had at last become one again...I was wrong to make that doll._

_I think Azami was trying to tell me where the head and hands of the doll are hidden. They're hidden in a box, somewhere in the house.

* * *

_

_Haha! Finished chapter four, so enjoy it. Chapter five will be after the next Himuro ending. _


	5. Chapter 5

_Knowing that Akane is controlled by Azami, Yoshitatsu has come to a conclusion: the doll must die. The doll knows what he is planning and, against Akane's pleas, plans to kill him. Akane eventually succumbs to her sister's orders, proving her statement "I can't kill anyone anymore," wrong.

* * *

_

**Chapter 5- Departure**

"That is not a doll…" Yoshitatsu Kiryu muttered to himself, feebly grasping the roughly cut dolomite stone that hung around his neck. "It is not my child, either…it is a ghost…I _must_ kill it…even if it looks like my child…I must kill it…the arms, head…where did you hide them?"

He stared around his dingy workroom. Nothing could help him; nothing in this room would help him. But he knew what he had to do; he had to kill the doll. The only problem now was, how? Without the doll parts, he couldn't get down to the X, and without getting down there he couldn't be rid of the doll.

"Useless," he said quietly.

His hands stretched against the table and they fell onto several sheets of paper he had written on in the past 48 hours. He picked the top one and read:

_The doll's soul is needed to make the mechanism work. I could create the other parts again, but I could never duplicate that soul. I can't let that hellish creature get its hands on the soul._

_The soul is the key! I'll have to keep it safe with me... _

Yoshitatsu searched through his other writings in the pile of loose papers. Nothing could help him here either…nothing.

His hands then fell on his doll making notes, the notes of the Azami doll creation, and he reread over them with weary eyes. Two whole days of seclusion in his workroom, he was tired, hungry, but that didn't matter to him…he just wanted to save his daughter from the doll's ensnarement. He flipped over to the fourth page and found the document of his encounter with Azami's spirit. Only at the bottom of the page did he find what he had forgotten:

_They're hidden in a box, somewhere in the house._

He smiled, but it slowly faltered into a frown. 'Boxes…around the house…that could be anywhere, we've never properly cleared out portions of the house…there are many boxes…and the doll, following me everywhere I go…there's no way that I'll find the parts, but rebuilding them will take days…days that Akane doesn't have…'

* * *

"Father is very stubborn, don't you agree, sister?"

"Uh-uhm."

"I wonder when he'll leave his room, do you, sister?"

"Hm-hmm."

Azami's glass eyes swiveled in the sockets, her eyelids narrowing to show her contempt toward her sister for trying escape from her hold over her. "Father wants to kill me…you'll allow it, sister? You'll allow him to kill me again?"

Akane's head slowly lifted, her black hair a curtain shadowing her face from her twin's sight. Their room was dimly lit, the two lamps in the center of their room the only light that held back the darkness. Akane's pallor was the same as it had been, if not worse, when her father had shut himself in his room. Her voice was weaker, but it still held her unnatural shrillness. Akane marveled at how her sister had changed. She had started to hate her sibling now; she was almost foreign to her even though she resembled her physically. Her voice had changed drastically, the cheerfulness was replaced by coldness, her happiness was now anger…the frail figure wearing the same purple kimono, with black hair shrouding the blue eyes…was not her sister…not the sister Akane remembered…not the sister that she loved…it was another being. But Akane forced herself to believe it to be her sister, no matter if she was changed. 'She came back to me…she'll stay with me…'

"Akane?" the doll asked skeptically, shifting her weight. "You wish that father will kill me? Do you!"

"Nm-mm." Akane shook her head side to side fervently, not wanting to upset her sister further.

"Will you do whatever I tell you to prevent him from doing this?"

Akane paused, sitting completely still. 'What does she mean?'

"Sister? Will you?" Azami pressured.

"I…don't…I don't…I don't know…"Akane whispered, finally speaking.

Azami stood up, not as awkward as before, now confident in walking normally despite the fact that her limbs were not flesh. She circled the room, wringing her hands and craning her neck to the sides which still made odd noises. Her irritability now made Akane nervous and she shrunk into the shadow of her mirror stand. Azami didn't notice this; she continued to walk, thinking of her father. 'If he's so determined to be rid of me, he'll have to leave his room sometime to look for the missing mechanism parts…'

"…that would leave him vulnerable…" Azami continued as Akane watched her wondering what she meant.

Azami stopped and turned toward her sister, still able to see her outline in the light. Her lips curved into a smile and Akane, sensing her joy, smiled back, not knowing what she was smiling about.

* * *

Yoshitatsu pressed his ear against the door. He could hear the doll speaking to Akane, angrily, from the sound of it. He sighed and quietly backed away, going to the stairway hall. He stood by the door and thought about which way he should go, up or to the right? He decided to go up because the twins' other door leads to the hall of contrasts and he didn't want them to know he had left. Carefully he climbed the stairs and went to the other door at the end of the hall. As he passed the open doorway, he briefly remembered his wife, Akane, dying on that very floor. Shaking the thought from his mind, he went through the door into the stair room.

He wandered around haplessly, looking in the boxes by the door and in the hall, but no head nor arms. He was about to go into the small room filled with many kimono boxes but stopped as he heard footsteps behind him. Yoshitatsu spun around quickly, seeing one of the girls just behind him. The girl looked up, slowly with her head clicking awkwardly, and her arms rose, making the same clicking noise. Yoshitatsu sidled past her as she rushed into the wall behind him, stumbling but recovering quickly.

"Father…" it whispered, standing up. "You won't kill me…sister will not lose me again."

"Demon," he hissed as he hurried down the flight of stairs, the girl watching him at the top of the landing.

Yoshitatsu half ran to his workroom and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. The older man tried to catch his breath, but it was almost impossible. He slid down the door, and leaned against it. Just outside the door he could hear the doll's childish ringing laughter, causing his heart to race. He jumped up, almost falling into the screen, but catching himself. Sighing, he went to his work table and pushed the papers aside, looking for a clean sheet. Finding the paper, he grabbed his stylus and wrote his thoughts:

_First, I have to kill the doll by hanging it. Then I must throw it into the X. It knows this and is controlling, Akane, trying to kill me. I have to throw it in, even if seeing the X blinds me. My daughter must die again...and Akane must relive the pain of losing her sister. _

_If we didn't have this ritual, no one would have to feel that kind of pain..._

"I have to try again…for Akane's sake…I have to finish this…"

* * *

**1 day later**

Akane shifted restlessly against the wall. Azami was a few feet away, standing on the other side of the door. She watched her and Akane knew that she was making sure she wouldn't run or back out. Last night, Azami had told her what had to be done if they were to stay together forever.

"Father still wishes to kill me."

"I know."

"I don't want to leave you, Akane." Her sister said, in a sad voice, startling Akane.

"I don't want you to leave again, either." Akane said, still amazed that Azami was finally showing a different mood than anger. "I never wanted you to leave…you know that."

"Yeah, I know."

"But father brought you back!" Akane said excitedly. "You remember that day, don't you? I was happy, you were happy…"

"…father was happy." Azami whispered, finishing her sister's sentence. "But now, now he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you!" Akane shouted, indignant. "He'd never hate you, just like I would never hate you."

"That's not exactly true, is it sister?" Azami said, with a hint of her old anger in her voice.

"Wh…what? Of course that's true! I'd never hate you!"

"I can tell what you feel, Akane." Azami said, sharply. "Every time that you're near me now, you shake, your eyes show the hate you hold toward me, just like father's."

"No!" Akane said, with a twinge of guilt. "I…only acted like that because…I was afraid. You were so angry…and you were never angry. I hated that you were angry that's all. I hated the way you were acting, not you yourself."

"That's all?" Azami said, sadly again.

"Yeah! I don't hate you!"

"Father…"

"…doesn't hate you, either!"

"But he wants me to die, sister." Azami muttered, coldly at first but spoke sadly again. "If that's not hate…what is?"

Akane stopped. She didn't know what to say to that. Instead she whispered, "Should we leave?"

"He'll come looking for us."

"Then…what should we do?"

Azami smiled under her black sheet of hair, convinced that she had gotten control back over her sister. "If he has his way, he'll kill me any day and throw me back into the Abyss."

Akane shuddered, both at the thought of the large hole and that her sister had not called it by 'X', as was the case with the villagers. "I hid the parts, he can't go back there."

"That way, he can't. But there are other ways."

"Bu…but…bu…" Akane sputtered, not knowing what she should say. After a minute, she decided to ask Azami the question again, hopefully getting a straight answer. "What should we do?"

"What do you think should be done?" Azami asked, trying her hardest not to laugh outright.

"I still like the running away idea, Azami." Akane muttered, shuffling her feet.

"It won't work." Azami snapped again. "He'll find us. The best way…the _only_ way…is…to be rid of him."

"Be rid of him?" Akane repeated blankly. "What…what's that mean?"

Azami stopped smiling at what her sister said. 'She's so…dense. She honestly can't think of what that meant? Well, she _is_ young. If our roles were switched, I guess I would have no idea what it meant either. How to say this?'

"Well…"Azami said, trying to dumb down the explanation for her sister. "You…you rid yourself of me…you rid yourself…of mother…"

"_Kill father?_" Akane gasped, feeling a sinking in her stomach. "No…no I said that I wouldn't kill anyone anymore, I can't kill anyone anymore!" She grasped her stone necklace.

"You'd rather lose me again?"

"N…no. I…I don't want to lose you again, but I don't want to lose father either."

"He'll die someday!" Azami shouted, raising her arms and making the strange noises again. "Why not now? Why not by his own daughter?"

Akane shook her head back and forth so fast that when she stopped she was slightly dizzy. "No! I don't want that!"

Azami let a small hiss escape her lips. 'I was so close! How long is she going to defy me? Stupid brat!'

"But…there's gotta be another way," Akane pleaded. "Azami…there's another way, right?"

Azami shook her head. 'How long do I have to say this to you? There isn't another way!'

"We'll be in so much trouble when we're caught." Akane said quietly.

"What makes you say we'll get caught?" Azami asked, smiling slightly. "We'll leave the village. Through the shrine…we'll get out."

"And…we'll stay together?" Akane asked.

"Never part." Azami said, nodding. "You just have to do this and we'll stay together…"

Clattering from behind the door made Akane jerk back to reality. She looked over at Azami and wondered if she was sleeping. Her head was down, her chin had to have fallen onto her chest, and she wasn't moving. Akane resisted the urge to brush away the hair hiding her sister's face as more sounds could be heard in the workroom. She couldn't explain, even to herself, what possessed her to go through this. It made no sense, but Azami said that it would be alright, they'd stay together, which is all that Akane wanted. Her father had to die.

"Father has to die." Akane murmured, trying to reassure herself that what was going to happen was fine.

"That's right, sister." Azami's voice muttered from behind her impenetrable black hair.

More noises from inside the workroom. Moonlight from an open window splashed onto the floor, stopping at Akane's feet. She watched it, half interested. Finally, the door creaked open and out stepped her father in a shabby grey kimono. He was about to close the door, but stopped at seeing the small shadow of Akane in front of him, not seeing that the doll was just behind the door. Fearing it was Azami, he stepped back, but Azami stuck out her foot making him trip and fall to the hard floor with a crash. She closed the door slowly behind him, and Akane bore down over her father.

"Ak…Akane…what are you doing?" Yoshitatsu asked shakily as his daughter raised her hands in front of her.

"You're not killing Azami…not again." She said quietly, wrapping her small fingers around his throat.

"Azami? Akane, that's not your sister," he spoke quickly, even though Akane started to press her hands harder into her father's throat. "That's not Azami! It's a doll, controlled by a spirit, an evil spirit! It's controlled you for weeks! Listen, don't do this…"

His voice became weaker, but he still talked to Akane in a frantic murmur. He tried to move, but he was pinned against the wall. Turning his head slightly, he could see the doll holding tightly onto him. Despite her size, she was stronger than was thought. The doll laughed as her father's eyes started to roll up into his head and his voice slowly dying away into nothing.

Yoshitatsu Kiryu, gifted dollmaker and loving father, died by his Remaining daughter and his possessed creation. The road to hell was paved with good intentions…

* * *

_About time! This chapter had confused me with where I should have gone with it, but I think it came out decent. Well, next chapter will be up 'soon'. _

_Ah, right, can't forget this! Thanks to fire-emblem-girl for your comments! _


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